


A Hard Habit to Break

by Tieria_Virtue_92



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Artist Lance (Voltron), Author allura, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Keith has issues, Lance is a unrepentant flirt, M/M, Miscommunication, Multi, Polyamory, Reconciliation, Teacher Shiro, author's first time writing shklance, breaking up, but not for long, mechanic keith
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2018-12-02 03:03:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11500425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tieria_Virtue_92/pseuds/Tieria_Virtue_92
Summary: Lance was excited about the prospect of moving to New York City and getting the illustrating job of his dreams. Too bad he didn’t tell his boyfriends Shiro and Keith about it.





	1. Can You Keep a Secret?

**Author's Note:**

> I decided to change the summary of the story because it sounded better and more accurate for the story.

Lance should have really thought this through. Sure, he was excited to get the job as children’s book illustrator for his former classmate, Allura , from the publishing company that was publishing her children’s book. He had gotten the job offer three months before graduation and he was excited about it. He had spent Spring Break in New York accompanied by his sister, Marie, looking for an apartment in Manhattan or Brooklyn. Most of the apartments in Manhattan were pretty much out of his budget, so he turned his attention to apartments for rent in Brooklyn. He didn’t mind the possibility of having to take the subway. He would have to sell his car since parking spaces were few and far between in Manhattan as well as incredibly expensive. He was relieved to find a loft apartment in what used to be a warehouse that he could afford. Living with two other people in San Francisco helped him save money, since he and his two roommates shared many of the bills and took turns getting the groceries. Now that he had that out of the way, he could plan on his next move. Finally getting out of San Francisco and getting with his career and his life.

 

There was only one little thing that he should have done. Well actually a very big thing he should have done. Telling Keith and Shiro that he was moving to New York because of his new job. Actually if he really thought about it, he should have told them as soon as he got the job offer. Then again if he had told them, they would have just insisted on moving out there with him. That was something that Lance wanted to avoid at all cost. He was not someone who was good at being in long term relationships. Actually he wasn’t very good at even short term relationships. Pidge often accused him of being the male version of Shane from _The L Word_. Sure he had somethings in common with Shane like being a bit of a commitment phobe.  He missed her and Hunk. Hunk had been going USC and Pidge, big surprise, had been going to Stanford. 

 

“Really, you’re just going to move to New York while Keith and Shiro are on vacation and not even call them to tell them you’re moving?” Pidge said. Pidge, Lance and Hunk always Skyped each other on a weekly basis. Just because they lived miles apart didn’t mean that they didn’t talk to each other.

 

Lance rolled his eyes. It’s true that he wasn’t planning on telling his soon to be former roommates (and ex boyfriends) that he was moving, let alone telling them he had a job waiting for him in New York City. He just wanted to get the whole move over and done with. He knew that long distance relationships didn’t last. Plus he was bored with the relationship as well. Or at least he thought he was getting bored with the relationship. Maybe the three of them should just take a break.

 

“It’s better that I do this now,” Lance answered. “Keith and I haven’t been getting along lately. He’s been accusing me of deliberate flirting with a girl at a concert.” Keith always had a problem with Lance’s flirting with anything that had a pulse. It was one of Lance’s many bad habits. For Lance, flirting was like breathing to him. It was just something that he did almost on instinct. Sure it caused a lot of problems with in his relationship with Keith and Shiro.

 

“Look. I was considering telling them in the beginning. I just needed to get started looking for a place to live as soon as I got the job offer. It kind of slipped my mind,” Lance answered as he ran his fingers through his hair.

 

Pidge gave him one her classic “I’m calling you out on your bullshit” looks where she arched her eyebrow and sucked her lips into her mouth.

“Come on, man,” Hunk said with a sigh. “I thought you were going to give this relationship with Keith and Shiro a chance to work.” He was sitting in his apartment that he shared with Shay, his long- time girlfriend.

 

“I have been giving it a chance,” Lance grumbled as he reached for an empty box that he was using for his move. He had been spending the past 12 hours getting all his books and art supplies packed to be shipped to New York City. He already had his queen sized bed packed up and his clothes had already been packed up in his suitcase. His younger brother Benji was heading up to San Francisco from Los Angeles to pick up his car.  Benji had bought it from him because he was starting UCLA in the fall. He would need the car than Lance did.

 

He hated arguing with Hunk and Pidge but Lance felt the need to defend his position. He wanted to make a clean break and this was the only way he thought he could do it. He, Keith and Shiro had been having problems getting a long for months now. He couldn’t remember the last time they had sex. It had gotten that bad. Plus, having a couple of commissions that he had been working on hadn’t helped any. One of his bad habits was his tendency to hyperfocus when he was working on an art project. One had been doing character designs for a comic book and helping Allura with illustrations for her children’s book _The Four Lion Cubs_. She was excited to finally get her book published and she insisted on Lance illustrating her children’s book with the publisher Harper Collins. The people at the publishing company were so impressed with the drawings that Lance submitted to them, they immediately commissioned him. That meant he had to move to New York City so that he didn’t have to rely on email to submit his work.

 

“My flight leaves tomorrow. Keith and Shiro won’t be home until Monday. I am not waiting until next week to inform them that our relationship is over. Do you know how hard it is to rebook a canceled flight at the last minute?” Lance ranted at the lap top screen. He had already packed his desk top and it was already on its way to his new apartment in Brooklyn.

 

Pidge sighed through her nose. Sometimes reasoning with Lance when he got into a mood was like talking to a brick wall. Hunk shook his head and sat back in his computer chair. He didn’t like arguing with his best friend. He liked both Shiro and Keith, even though he warned both men that Lance was commitment phobic. And he was also hoping at the same time that Lance would give the relationship with Keith and Shiro a chance to work.

 

Lance’s flight left on Saturday at 11:30 am and Benji was driving him to the airport. He spent of the rest of Friday making sure that he had everything he was taking to New York was packed up. As he climbed into the car with his younger brother, Lance looked at the fourth floor window and sighed. He was making the right decision. But, why was there this tiny persistent voice telling him he was making a huge mistake?


	2. New York State of Mind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance makes himself at home in Brooklyn and meets one of his new neighbors.

There was nothing like seeing the Manhattan skyline appearing through breaks in the clouds as the plane descended into JFK. Lance had been very lucky to get a seat window. Being seated in the middle section of the plane made him feel claustrophobic. Plus, he didn’t like bumping elbows with people. He spent most of the flight listening to music on his iPhone and doodling one of the stewardess’s profile as she refilled the other passengers’ glasses. He thought about giving the young woman the drawing as a “Thank you” for her excellent service. Most of the music on his phone ranged from Marina and the Diamonds to Led Zeppelin. He was currently listening to Pearl Jam. He had it on airplane mode too.

 

He heard the pilot inform the passengers to get ready to land as he pulled the earbuds out. Lance knew that Allura would be waiting for him at the terminal. She had promised that she would help him settle into his new apartment and the next day they both had a meeting with the publishers about the book’s release date and visiting major bookstores in New York to promote _The Four Lion Cubs_.  He was more nervous about that than the fact that he would now be living by himself. Part of him was relieved that he didn’t have to share the place with two other people. As he and the other passengers disembarked from the plane, he turned his phone back on and saw the text message from Allura that she would meet him down by the baggage carousel. He shouldered his messenger bag and headed out of the plane.

 

It didn’t take him long to find Allura. She was standing at the bottom of escalator leading to the baggage carousel. He gave her a hug and they walked over to grab his suitcase. He asked her how things were going with her. Allura told him that his apartment was all set up and that he just needed to call the cable company to set up his wifi internet.

“How was the flight over?” she asked as they headed out to the SUV that would take them to Brooklyn.

 

“There was only one lay over in Saint Louis, but other than that it was a rather boring flight,” Lance answered as he climbed into the car. ”Where’s the closest AT&T store? I have to talk to them about renewing my cellphone plan early. If I renew it before September, I get a discount on the new iPhone.”

 

“I thought that most cellphone companies were leasing iPhones,” Allura said as she pulled into traffic as they headed towards Brooklyn. Lance told her that some companies were leasing the iPhones, some weren’t. The car ride to the apartment building was fairly quick because it wasn’t rush hour. And it was the weekend.

 

As they pulled up to the building, Lance got a particular sense of déjà vu. The building looked almost like the apartment building where he lived with Keith and Shiro in San Francisco. He shook his head and opened the car door and walked around the back of Allura’s Land Rover to pull his luggage out of the back. Allura walked up the steps to open the front door for Lance. He carried the suitcase up the steps and through the front door. Thank God the building had an elevator. His old apartment building in San Francisco didn’t. Shiro thought it was good exercise to have to climb up the stairs on a daily basis. It wasn’t such good exercise when you had to carry a messenger bag that weighed a ton because of his lap top and art supplies every day to class.

Lance accompanied Allura to the building manager’s office to pick up his apartment and mail box key. The manager was a Chinese man named Mr.Chang. He also lived in the building and told Lance not to hesitate to ask him for help if he was having problems with plumbing in his apartment’s kitchen and bathroom. Lance thanked him and walked out of the office. The elevator was on the left and Lance pushed the button for the fifth floor. Allura got in with him and she told him that he had the rest of the day and Sunday to get groceries. He also decided to go for walk to get the lay of the neighborhood. Lance thanked Allura for picking him up at the airport. As she was leaving, Allura reminded Lance that they had to be at the publisher’s office at 1:30 to talk about the book being published and the book tour to promote _The Four Lion Cubs_.

 

“There’s grocery store two blocks from here. Everyone in the neighborhood shops there,” she told him as Allura stepped into the hallway. Lance thanked her again and closed the door as she walked to the elevator.

 

 

Lance took out his iPhone and activated his banking app to check and see if he had enough money to pay for groceries and was relieved that he had plenty of money to buy a week’s worth. He slipped his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans and made sure to lock the door as he left. The neighborhood wasn’t particularly dangerous, but you still had to be vigilant. Stuffing his keys in his sweatshirt, he got onto the elevator. He would have pushed the close button when a girl’s voice shouted at him to wait. A short brown haired teen age girl rushed into the elevator.

 

“I’m so sorry,” the girl said gasping for breath. “Mama wants me to run to the grocery store to get some tomato paste.” She was about 17 years old, with pretty hazel eyes and a cupid’s bow mouth.

 

Lance smiled. “I’m heading to the grocery myself. I just moved to Brooklyn and don’t know my way around,” he said.

 

“Cool! I hope that you didn’t put your wallet in the back pocket of your jeans,” the girl said as he moved to push the button for the first floor. “There are still problems with people getting mugged and their money stolen. My names Florona by the way” Her smile was cheerful as she checked to make sure that the money her mother gave her was still in the pocket of her jeans shorts. She was wearing a baseball jersey shirt that had the name of a band on it.

 

“My names Lance,” he told her with a friendly smile and offered her is hand. The girl took it warily. He didn’t blame her. After all he was a stranger to her.

 

“I just moved today and I don’t know the neighborhood that well,” he continued as the elevator reached the ground floor and they both exited. Florona agreed to walk with Lance to the grocery store. Like Allura told him, it was a two block walk to the store. The grocery was fairly busy with it being a Sunday. Lance grabbed a shopping cart and began walking down the produce aisle. He picked up lettuce, carrots, avocados, cucumbers and a bag of prepared salad. He also picked up bananas and bagged apples. He had made a shopping list before he left and had it tucked into his pocket. He did his best to stick to it, but there was quite a bit of temptation, but he managed to resist the urge to buy junk. That was one of the good things that he picked from dating Shiro. He certainly ate a lot healthier. Lance had spent only fifty dollars at the store, which was a miracle. His sister Maria who lived in New York with her husband, Mateo and their two daughters, had given him the advice that buying groceries in NYC could get expensive if you shopped at the grocery stores in Manhattan.

 

He considered waiting for Florona, but the girl had probably already left the store. Fortunately, he had been paying attention to his surroundings and knew his way back to the apartment building. Lance got back home without incident.

 

As he opened the door, he almost yelled “Shiro. Keith. I’m home!” but stopped himself. He wasn’t back in San Francisco. And he wasn’t living with two other people any more. He walked into the kitchen and put the two bags on the counter. He heard a phone ringing in the living room and Lance remembered that he left his phone in his apartment to charge. His heart almost froze. What if it was Keith? Or Shiro. He almost didn’t pick up the phone from the coffee table. Then he decided to just get it over with and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that it was just Hunk.

 

“You home? I thought that you’d never answer,” the Samoan man said.

 

“Yeah, I’m home. Just ran to the grocery store,” Lance said as he sat down on the couch. “I was terrified you were Keith or Shiro.”

 

“They are going to eventually find out that you moved out,” Hunk said. “I thought Keith said that they were going to call you before they got on the plane home from Japan.”

 

“He did tell me that before they left,” Lance said as he ran his hand through his hair. “Part of me is hoping that his phone dies so he can’t.” He was still mad at the Korean American man for almost starting brawl with the boyfriend of a girl that Lance had flirting with at a rock concert. Lance knew that Hunk was right. Keith and Shiro were in for an unpleasant surprise when they got home and found out that Lance wasn’t there anymore.

 


	3. Trouble in Paradise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro return from vacation and find out they are down one boyfriend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Never written Sheith before. Please be gentle.

The flight from Tokyo to San Francisco seemed forever. At least it seemed forever to Keith because he hated sitting in one place for a long time. Shiro tried to get a flight that at least had one layover, but most of the layovers that they looked at either stopped in China, Alaska or even as far as Brisbane Australia. So Keith had to learn to be patient. Keith wanted to get back to the States as fast as he could. He hadn’t been able to keep his mind off his troubles during he and Shiro’s vacation visiting Shiro’s relatives in Japan. Lance had been acting funny the past couple of months and he wanted to confront him about it. They had just boarded and the plane was taxing down the runway. He thought about checking his phone, but since it was on airplane mode and he couldn’t receive any messages or calls. The only thing he could do was listen to the music on his phone.

 

As soon as they were in the air, Keith unbuckled his seatbelt and made his way to the bathroom. Before they got on the plane, Shiro had gotten him a large coffee which he downed before they got on their flight. He should have asked Shiro to get him a medium. Curse his small bladder. He got out his phone to see if Lance had gotten his message that he sent before they left. Lance still hadn’t responded. It gave him a very uneasy feeling. He should have tried calling Lance the whole week, but he really wanted to talk to the Cuban American man face to face. Hopefully he was at the apartment when they got home. Keith opened the door and made his way down the aisle to his seat.

 

 

“Lance hasn’t answered my text. I hope that he gets it,” Keith said as he sat down next to Shiro and secured his seat belt. Shiro took his hand and twined their fingers. 

 

“I’m sure he got it. You know that it takes him forever to answer texts when he is working on something,” Shiro said with a reassuring smile. He was looking forward to seeing their partner. Well, partner wasn’t exactly the right word. A partner was someone who you worked with or played a sport with. Lance was their boyfriend, plain and simple. Whenever Lance worked on an art project, that was all he concentrated on. Some times to the point that he forgot to eat, go to bed on time or spend time with the people he loved. He wanted to at least talk about this like the adults they were. The constant snarking, yelling and slamming doors wasn’t the way to handle things.

 

Keith continued to fidget in his seat. They still had seven more hours to go before reaching San Francisco. Before they left last week for Tokyo, Keith made Lance promise that he would talk to him about the argument that they had after the Franz Ferdinand concert. Keith had always had an issue with Lance’s flirting. It hadn’t been a problem before. Both he and Shiro knew that Lance was bisexual (in reality all three of them were) and he didn’t have a problem with it. He just was afraid to that Lance would eventually leave him and Shiro for somebody else. It happened before and would most likely happen again. The only person he trusted never to leave him was Shiro. He had proven that time and again. With Lance he wasn’t so sure. Especially after what Lance’s long time best friend, Hunk, told them when the three started dating.

 

The seven hours flew by fast and before they knew it, they were back home in San Francisco. Keith turned on his phone and tried to text Lance and ask if he would meet them at the airport so they could go out to dinner and talk. He was hoping that Lance would have his phone on.

 

As they reached the baggage claim, there was no Lance. Keith decided to check his phone see if Lance had gotten his text. No answer. He considered trying to call him. Lance was one of those people who never answered his phone unless it rang three times. Usually his phone went to voice mail, but Keith was hoping that this _one time_ their Cuban American boyfriend would answer. Keith stood as the carousel made a round as he and Shiro waited for their luggage. He let it ring the three times and then it went to voice mail.

 

 _This is Lance Mclain. I am currently available to take your message. Please leave your name and number at the tone_ sounded in his ear as Keith sighed in frustration. He hated leaving messages. He preferred texting. It was easier for Keith to get his thoughts across.

 

“No answer,” Shiro said as he grabbed their luggage from the baggage carousel. Keith nodded and tried to send Lance another text message and hoped that this time Lance would answer. As they made their way out to their car, Keith kept pulling out his phone to see if Lance responded. Keith had been very quiet the entire ride back to their apartment

 

“You know that Lance gets really into an art project and always doesn’t pay attention to what is going on around him,” Shiro told him as they were driving along the freeway.” As soon as we get out of traffic, I will call him. He might answer me if he’s still mad at you over the fight at the concert.”

 

“No. He and I need to talk like adults. You’re always saying we need to talk about things,” Keith said as he stuffed his phone into his jeans pocket. He been trying hard to _not_ fall back on old bad habits.

 

They arrived back at the apartment and noticed something missing: Lance’s car. He could just be out running errands or he had gone on a job interview. He was hoping that one of those was the reason why Lance’s car was missing. Or he had gone to the grocery since it was Lance’s turn to go shopping. That was probably what he was doing.

 

Keith was the first one to reach the apartment door as Shiro lugged up one of the suitcases. He had already gotten his and was frankly rather tired when he opened the door. That’s when he noticed something wrong with the room: Lance’s computer was missing. Had the apartment been broken into? No. The building manager would have called them if that had been the case.

 

“Hey, Shiro. Check Lance’s room. You know the one he usually sleeps in. I mean when he moved in,” Keith said as his heart started to pound. _No this can’t be happening!_ Keith thought frantically. Shiro moved to get open the door to the second bedroom. Keith head turned sharply as the Japanese man yelled his name. Keith rushed from the living room and ran down the hall to what had originally been the spare bed room that had been Lance’s room when he first moved in with them.

 

“His bed and dressers are gone,” Shiro told him as he opened the door for Keith to see in the room. Sure enough, the room was empty. Keith started almost hyperventilating. Shiro wrapped his arms around the smaller man, shaking his head in disbelief.

 

“I can’t believe this,” Keith said. He felt like he was going to faint. How could Lance do this to them? Move out without saying a word. Lance had promised to talk to Keith when he and Shiro came back from Japan. Shiro murmured that Keith should sit down on the sofa in the living room and try to calm down. Almost on autopilot, Keith walked over to the couch and sat down heavily.

 

“Try calling Lance again and talk to him,” Shiro said as he sat down next to him. Keith shook his head and swallowed hard. He knew that Shiro was right, but he was too angry and hurt to even consider calling the guy right now. Soon he’ll call him even though he would prefer to talk to him in person.


	4. Where did he go?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro decide to track Lance down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter. The next chapter will be longer I promise. Plus the chapter includes some of Shiro and Keith's history and how they met Lance. Sorry if it seems a little wonky. I might take it down and rewrite it.

It took a couple of days for Keith and Shiro to get over the initial shock of Lance bolting from their apartment to parts unknown. At least parts unknown to Shiro and Keith. The younger of the two did his ususal: mope and generally be pissed off at the world in general. Shiro thought that Keith would have grown out of that kind of behavior by now that he was 23 years old. It was one of Keith's bad habits that he really needed to break. One day after work,Shiro came home to find Keith sitting on the floor of what used to be Lance's room, well Lance's room when he first moved in with them during Keith and Lance's junior year at UC Berkeley. Shiro wondered how long he'd been sitting in middle of the darkened room. The shades were drawn, the sun shining through the slats of the blinds. Shiro had already started making inquires with some of Lance's former classmates about what they knew about Lance's move. None of them had any idea where Lance was or where he could have gone. And that left Shiro frustrated.

 

"How long are you going to sit there? Aren't you the least bit curious about where Lance is?" Shiro asked as he sat down beside the younger man. Keith looked at Shiro for a second before turning his gaze towards the floor. Sometimes it was hard to know what Keith was thinking. Shiro had known Keith since high school. They had met during Shiro's senior year and only started dating after Shiro had gone to college. He wasn't too surprised that Keith followed him to San Francisco. Both of their parents at first were not very supportive of their relationship because of the age difference. Keith reminded his parents there was a eight year age difference between his mother and father, and that didn't stop them from making the relationship work. It was during Keith's freshman year that he moved into Shiro's two bedroom apartment.However the apartment was expensive. Shiro was doing a teaching internship and Keith was working as a student custodian, which meant that they weren't making enough money to keep the apartment and they decided to put an ad in the student newpaper and flyers in the class buildings advertising for a roommate. They both decided to tell any potential roommate that they would be living with a same sex couple. Hopefully, that would weed out the homophobes. 

 Keith shared a couple of classes with Lance freshman year and that was how they met Lance. At first, Lance and Keith didn't get a long very well. Lance had been one of the top students in his medium size high school, which made him very competitive. Lance also came from a rather large family,which he was very close to. Being the middle youngest child made him a bit of a comic cut up, something that drove Keith crazy on most days. Despite their rocky beginning, Keith found the lanky Latino rather cute. One day while working on a project for Biology, Lance invited Keith to have lunch with his friends Hunk and Pidge,who were visiting during Halloween Weekend.

 

"So, how many classes do you have with Lance?" Pidge asked as she bit into her sandwich as they sat in the food court of the Student Center. Hunk and Pidge had arrived on Thursday afternoon since neither on of them had classes on Fridays at UCLA and Stanford. Keith had just sat down at their table after getting food from Wao Bao, one of his favorite places to eat. He had gotten a bowl of Spicy Mongolian Beef on Jasmine rice and a couple of steamed buns. Hunk had ordered food from the same vendor, he had gotten a Bao bowl with some steamed buns and Thai Herb broth. 

 

" I have English composition, Biology and Elementary Japanese," Keith answered before taking a bite of one of his steamed buns. " I live with my boyfriend who is a Senior. He's an Education major and he is starting a teaching internship this fall." There was silence around the table. Keith cringed. He never should have told them that. 

 

"I didn't know you had a boyfriend," Lance said before taking a bite of his hamburger. That made Keith relax. Hunk and Pidge smiled before the conversation started again. Keith however watched Lance intently watching to see if he said anything else. When the Latino man started talking about his Art  History class, Keith listened. Lance was art major with a concentration in Computer Animation. He had come to UC Berkeley because they had one of the best programs in the country. One of Lance's biggest ambitions was to work for either ILM or Pixar. 

 

Back in the present, Keith suddenly leaned against Shiro and rested his head on the older man's shoulder. He had come into Lance's room after changing out of his work clothes and sat in the exact spot where Lance's bed that he bought from IKEA, once stood. He knew that he should have known that something was going on when Lance refused to join him and Shiro on their vacation to Tokyo. Lance talked about how one day he wanted to visit Akihabara and see the Ghilbli Museum if he ever got the chance to go to Japan.

" I was just thinking. I want to call Hunk in Los Angeles and see if Lance ever talked to him about moving out," Keith mumbled against the sleeve of Shiro's henley. Hunk out of all Lance's friends knew him best and was the logical person to go to in order to find Lance. 

"That would be a great idea," Shiro said as he kissed the top of Keith's head. " Do you have his phone number?"

 


	5. Search Committee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith and Shiro talk to Hunk while attending a family wedding and make their next move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shiro in this fic is Japanese American. Keith is biracial (part Japanese,part European American). Both are bisexual. Hunk is also a bar tender.

Two weeks later,they were invited to attend Shiro's cousin's wedding in Los Angeles that they were able to get together with Hunk. Keith remembered to call Hunk first to arrange a time when they could meet to talk that missing Cuban. Hunk asked them to meet him at a restaurant in Long Beach, he worked at until he could find a job in his in Electro-Mechanical Engineering. Hunk had plenty of job offers,but didn't want to leave L.A because of his girlfriend Shay. The drive down to Los Angeles was uneventful with Keith mostly sleeping. It took them six hours and twenty six minutes (minus bathroom breaks and stopping to eat a long the way) to get from San Francisco to Los Angeles. They had left at six in the morning so that they could avoid the morning rush hour  traffic. They were staying with Shiro's aunt and uncle for the weekend. Keith loved the couple because they were always kind to him and didn't make a fuss that Shiro was bisexual. 

 

They arrived in Los Angeles before 12:30 and met Shiro's family in Little Tokyo for lunch before heading for Long Beach. They had a couple of hours to kill before meeting up with Hunk. He worked at Claire's at the Museum a beach side restaurant that came highly recommended. Hunk was a bar tender and he wouldn't be able to have dinner with them until his shift ended at 6:00. They chose to walk around Little Tokyo, visiting the shops. They stopped in the Kinokuniya Bookstore because Shiro liked to keep up with the latest Japanese author who hadn't published yet in the United States and magazines. Keith looked at the shelves of  _manga_ looking for new series to read. Keith wished he could as fluent Japanese as Shiro, but the only words he could say were "Hello", "Thank you very much" and "Where is the bathroom?". They also stopped in Rafu Bassun to buy Shiro's cousin and his new wife a  _sake_ set as wedding present.It was five o' clock before they left Little Tokyo to head to Long Beach. They had to get there in enough time to eat dinner. 

The traffic was unusually light considering it was a Friday night. They arrived just in time to find Hunk and Shay waiting for them. They got a table close to the beach since there was more available seating outside. They order their meal from an attentive young woman. They decided to forgo ordering the restaurant's signature cocktails since Hunk informed them that they would be expensive. 

" I highly recommend the Black and Blue Burger or the Grilled Chicken Cobb Salad," Hunk told them as they looked over the menu. Both Keith and Shiro ordered the burger while Hunk ordered Salmon Avocado B.L.T and Shay the Grilled Chicken sandwich. They talked about what they had been doing since graduation and their jobs. They didn't linger very long because Hunk invited them back to his apartment for the long important conversation. Shay had to head to her family's home since she was studying to take the GRE so that she could get into UCLA's very prestigious Library Science program. She wanted to get in the program next year and she wanted to apply before the December 1st deadline. They followed Hunk to his apartment after he dropped Shay off. Hunk's apartment in Naples . It was a very nice neighborhood and was well away from the busier parts of the city.

They followed Hunk inside the second floor apartment. It was furnished with mostly furniture from IKEA. They sat on the couch while Hunk took the love seat. 

 

" I guess you guys want to know where Lance is," Hunk said as he fidgeted in his seat. He was really nervous about telling Shiro and Keith about Lance's decision to move to New York City without telling them. Granted, he liked Keith and Shiro and thought they were good for Lance. 

 

" Shiro and I figured that Lance would have said something to you about moving out," Keith answered as he adjusted the couch cushion that was digging into his back. 

 

" Yes, he did. I just wished he talked to you two first when he got the offer," Hunk said as he looked at his hands, deep in thought.

"What job offer?" Shiro asked as he leaned forward. Now they both were intrigued.

"Remember Allura Altea? She went to UC Berkeley with you guys. She's about to publish her first children's book and she wanted Lance to illustrate it," Hunk said as he reached turn on the lamp on the coffee table beside him. The room was rather dark as the sun began to set over the Pacific. 

" That's great news!"said Shiro as he turned on the other lamp. They didn't plan on staying very long and hoped that Hunk would quickly tell them what they needed to know about Lance.

"Lance got it into his head that in order to get some work done on the book, he needed to move to New York City and that meant moving away from California," Hunk said with a shake of his head. He felt like he was betraying Lance somehow by telling his former boyfriends about his clandestine move to NYC. But then again he had warned Lance that Keith and Shiro would eventually find out. 

"So Lance is in New York to work on a book?" Keith said as he leaned forward. Why didn't he tell them? He and Shiro would've been excited for him. Yes, being in a long distance relationship would take some getting used to until he and Shiro could find jobs in New York City. Why didn't Lance say something to them?

Then he remembered. He and Lance had some problems getting along before Lance moved out, but it wasn't something that couldn't be fixed. He really wanted to talk to him. Like the adults they were. 

"Thank you,Hunk," Shiro said as he got up. Hunk nodded and asked them if they wanted anything to drink before they left. The three men had a beer and talked about other things that were going on in their lives. As they were leaving a plan began to form as they drove back to Little Tokyo. They planned using their next vacation to go to New York City and talk to Lance.


	6. A Truth Revealed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Allura meet with the publishers. Allura asks about Keith and Shiro. Lance tells her the truth.

It had been two months since Lance had moved to New York City and it was a rainy Sunday in Brooklyn. The rain beat a pleasant pattern against wide windows that gave Lance a nice view of the street below. The first week he’d been in New York, Lance and Allura had meeting with the publisher on the upcoming book tour to promote Allura’s children’s book. The publishers had been suitably impressed with Lance’s illustrations for the book. 

“Your illustrations are just adorable,” Luxia, the woman in charge of the Children’s book division of Altea Publishing. “I’m sure that authors are going to be clamoring for you to illustrate their books.”

“I hope so.My dream is to illustrate a Tolkien or Star Wars calendar someday,” Lance said as he and Allura sat across from her. The office window gave them a stunning view of the streets of Manhattan. It was getting close to lunch time. They were planning on stopping at a local coffee shop near Altea Publishing’s building. They came highly recommended by the locals and Lance had looked the place up on YELP. It got really good reviews. 

They left the building and headed toward the little cafe. It was a cozy little place that reminded him of a cafe back in San Francisco that he, Keith and Shiro liked to get breakfast on Sundays. Lance sneaked a glance at the chalkboard step up near the entrance to see what the daily specials were.It was late August and suddenly every coffee shop in Manhattan and Brooklyn were serving Pumpkin Spiced Lattes. Why couldn’t they wait until the first day of Fall to serve anything Pumpkin Spiced! Lance and Allura were seated at a table by the window. The waitress took their orders. Lance ordered the sandwich of the day,while Allura ordered a Cobb salad and a cup of Baked Potato soup. They both got plain cups of coffee. 

"So how are you liking your new apartment? I've been wanting to stop by,but the publishers have been keeping me very busy lately," Allura asked before she took a bite of her salad. 

"I really like it. Nice and quiet.Don't see my neighbors much,"Lance said as he took a sip of his coffee. Part of him was dreading Allura asking about Keith and Shiro. He wasn't ready to talk about their break up yet. Who was he kidding? He hadn't officially broken up with them. He just needed a break from the relationship. 

"That's good to know.I bet you miss Keith and Shiro," Allura said slyly. She wholeheartedly supported Lance's relationship with the two and was hoping that things between the three of them were working out. Lance gave her a startled look, hoping he didn't resemble a deer seeing a speeding car too late. 

"Yeah,I miss them," he murmured as looked out the window. He felt like the girl in the song Tom's Diner, as he looked out the window at a woman passing by. She was riffling through her purse for something. The woman pulled out her cellphone and started walking again. Lance was about to take a bite out of his sandwich when he caught Allura looking at him. She was looking at him like she didn't believe him. 

"What?" he asked before taking a bite of his sandwich. 

"You sure don't sound like you're missing them," Allura said as she sat back in her chair. "Alright,spill it!"

Lance sighed and looked her straight in the eye. "Keith and Shiro don't know that I am in New York. I moved out while they were visiting Shiro's Aunt and Uncle in Tokyo. Keith and I haven't been getting a long lately."

Allura's gasped and her eyes grew a big as saucers. "You broke up with them without talking about it and moved here," she shouted loud enough for the whole cafe to hear. Lance wanted to sink into the floor since all the other patrons in the cafe were staring at them. He should've seen this coming. After all, it was Allura who introduced Lance to Keith and Shiro. 

"I was going to talk to the both of them when they got back. Then I got the offer to come to New York and work for a publishing company. Keith almost started brawl with some guy at a concert because I was talking to a girl. I didn't know she was his girlfriend," Lance muttered. Allura groaned as she tilted her head back. Flirting had always been one of Lance's flaws and it was often the cause of conflict in Lance's relationship with Keith and Shiro. Especially with Keith. Keith was the kind of guy when he fell in love,he fell hard. And Keith was very much in love with both Lance and Shiro. He just didn't handle jealousy very well.

"Why would you do something like that?" Allura said as she took a sip of her coffee. "You know that Keith and Shiro don't like it when you flirt with girls. Especially when you're in a relationship with them."

"I know,Allura," Lance said as he reached for his iPhone in his messenger bag. It was ringing. Lance smiled as he saw his sister Maria's name appear on the screen. He chatted with her for a minute before hanging up. 

"Please call Keith and Shiro. They deserve an apology. And invite them to come out to New York," Allura said as Lance put his phone back in his bag. "I'm pretty sure that Keith will want to do it in person."

 

That was two months ago. Both Lance and Allura had been very busy since their afternoon lunch. The publishing company was having them do a book tour of the United States with future book tours in England and Australia.That had Lance and Allura very excited. It was during that rainy Sunday that Lance heard from Hunk. He had been working on a commission from a old deviantART follower,who wanted him to do a poster of Rey from the new Star Wars movies with BB-8 at her feet. He had just scanned the pencil drawing into his computer when his phone rang.  

"Guess who I got a recent visit from?" the Samoan man said as Lance anwered the phone. 

 

 


	7. Fic Announcement: On Temporary Hiatus.

I’m sorry if people were expecting a new chapter. I will be starting a new job soon and I will be moving back home to Lebanon, Ohio. The only computer that I will have access to is a library computer and they are usually on a time limit. I plan on updating after I watch Season 4 which starts streaming on Friday. I know that people hate waiting for updates. I have no plans on abandoning this story. Thank you for your patience.


End file.
